


Run

by koanju (verstehen)



Category: X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2005-11-21
Updated: 2005-11-21
Packaged: 2017-10-13 20:26:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/141416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verstehen/pseuds/koanju
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Better run through the jungle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Run

**Author's Note:**

> Written in a strange attempt to merge the awesome of comics canon with the marginally cool bits of the movie verse. Then they went and made X3 and completely screwed up the Dark Phoenix saga in movie canon and I lost my will to ever finish this. Maybe some day!

Six years of working at an endless string of places like the Kitty Kat Klub was bound to teach you a thing or two about reading people, most of them men. Not that Sally Chesterfield, dance name Aurora, hadn't had practiced in reading men way before she started dancing.

Some men were easy, like books ready opened to the page you needed, while some men were harder and, if they looked interesting or rich you might tease it out of them. And then some men, well, some men were assholes.

The bulky, smoky guy with horned hair and a scowl that hadn't left the whole night just screamed asshole. But to 'Aurora''s surprise he'd tipped well enough and didn't get worse as he drank, so when he called her over looking for a two-for-one lapdance -- the biggest draw of this place and the reason it was always so packed on Saturday nights -- she'd agreed.

Money was money, after all, possible asshole or not.

Two dances and quite a nice amount of money later it could easily be said that she wasn't regretting the decision, though she would sure as hell be watching the parking lot when she got off her shift. He seemed a little too interested in her, if you got the meaning, and she wasn't no naive thing working her first club.

She'd learned over the years that redheads were a little exotic in stripclubs. Mostly the men seemed to favor the blondes and brunnettes. Or maybe it was just that redheads had better sense to keep out of places like this. Being a little exotic had its advantages, like big tippers and guys that were willing to pay to have your attention most the night. Of course, the drawbacks came in the fact that you never got the normal sort of weird when things went sideways, so it was a tradeoff.

Like this guy's -- he hadn't offered his name, even when she asked -- sort of weird. He'd known that Angela wasn't a natural redhead, somehow, though the girl had a best dyejob that Aurora'd ever seen. Didn't stop him from asking for her when it came to the 2-for-1. Aurora just figured that he had a thing for redheads and Angela was the only other redhead in the place.

It was hardly the weirdest fetish she'd ever dealt with. Hell, it wasn't even the weirdest one she'd dealt with recently. And Mr. Red knew how to keep his hands to himself, that was a plus. Most of the guys who came through the Kitty Kat hadn't learned that rule. Even after Andy tossed 'em out and they tried to come back the next night. Rule number one of every strip joint was do not touch the girls. In some places, that kinda thing was actually illegal.

It was enough to make her curious, in a vague way, as to why this guy read asshole but acted real nice over all. Polite, followed the rules, wasn't much of a talker but what'd she care about that? They weren't here to make conversation.

It was enough to make her curious, sure, right until she heard a bit of an argument over at the door and Mr. Red turned to see it.

It looked like the man had a wife. Or a girlfriend. And she didn't, unsurprisingly, look pleased. And she wasn't a redhead either. Brownish-red, maybe. But still pretty damn brown. Surprise, surprise.

As the woman stalked closer, Aurora noticed she had a white streak in her brown hair. She didn't look old enough for that. Closer still and Angela was backing off with her as the woman walked up to them. She *wasn't* old enough for that and it caught Aurora's attention for just a second. Long enough for the girl, and she was a girl, to look up at her and look her over. She smiled, a real sarcastic one, like there was something funny about the way Aurora looked.

That pissed her off. She was working her way through graduate school and wasn't trash, damnit, no matter how many jealous and annoyed wives thought so. Not that this was her problem was she was damn sick of that sort of attitude, especially from the kinda of girl that was with a man old enough to be her father.

Glass houses and all.

"When you're done feeding the fetish, sugar, you're needed back at the house," the girl said in the remnants of soft Southern drawl, glancing over at Mr. Red.

Mr. Red snorted and ignored her, drinking his beer.

Aurora backed off enough to start scanning the club still. Just because the man tipped well didn't mean she wanted to get into the middle of a lover's spat. What'd Andy been thinking letting her in?

"And next time," the girl continued. "Answer your damn phone."

"What phone?"

The girl gave an exasperated sigh, the streaks of white in her hair blowing up a little as she did, and she produced a small, silver phone easily. "Looks like this 'n' it's probably sitting out on your bike, beeping. Scott's pissed."

Mr. Red growled. "What'd I care what Scooter feels like?"

The woman frowned at him and tucked her phone away. "Are you coming or not, Logan? I ain't got all night."

Mr. Red had a name then. Logan. It didn't fit him really, but you didn't get to choose your name did you? She hardly looked like a Sally herself.

"Sweetheart," she said, still smarting from the look earlier, "I don't think he's interested in going home right now."

"I ain't your sweetheart, lady. I ain't a sweetheart at all," the girl drawled, her accent getting a little thicker with irritation. She picked up Mr. Red's drink and took a long swig before slamming the beer down on the table next to him. "I'm taking the bike back with me."

"What am I supposed to do? Walk?"

"Your choice," she replied. "'N' you get to deal with Scott. I did my part." With that she turned and stalked off, back towards the front of the club.

Mr. Red watched her go, all the way outta the Kitty Kat's doors before he picked up his empty beer bottle.

"There's always cabs after closing," Aurora offered. "Or someone might be nice enough to give you a lift home."

But she could already see that he'd decided to follow, so she backed off. Damn, she probably could have gotten another lap dance off of him. "Don't trust her with the bike," he muttered lowly as he lifted himself up from the seat.

He strolled toward the door, in much less of a hurry than the girl, leaving Aurora wondering exactly what he thought the girl was gonna do to his bike. Knock it over while putting it in a trailer?

But it didn't matter. She had work to do.

Still, she thought he'd be back, probably next week. Without the girl in tow.

* * *

There was something about having a ton of metal between her thighs that just cheered a girl up real good, Rogue reflected as she mounted Scott's bike and kick started it. Especially when Logan was acting like he had metal for brains.

The truth was that Jean was dead and had been for a good two years now. Scott had got over it. The professor had got over it.

But Logan was still acting like a real asshole.

It was funny because of the three men he had the least reason to be upset about it and the most to get over it real quick, but he hadn't.

He was nursing the wound like he could make up for not being able to nurse his other ones, or something, and she was damn sick of it. There was only so much a girl could take before she earned the right to smack a guy upside the head for stupidity and Logan had reached his limit tonight.

The Professor thought it was because Logan didn't take well to losing people or things, after he'd lost his memory and all, and they just needed to be patient with him. Hank McCoy, the doctor the X-Men and the school were using now, thought he just had his head stuck up his ass, except he'd used much bigger words. Rogue was inclined to agree with the large, blue fellow.

Rogue liked Hank; he made her laugh even if she could only follow what he was talking about two-thirds of the time. He was a sweet, blue guy and didn't remind her at all of Grover a bit. Plus he'd traveled all over, researching and pulling medical miracles out of his fedora, so she liked to pester him with questions whenever being cooped up got to be too much. Hank didn't mind. She appreciated that about him.

She revved the bike and looked over at the strip club's door one last time. Even Logan deserved an extra minute or two to pull his head out from his read end. Though she wasn't so sure about that when she re-spotted the blinking neon sign above the door. 'Kitty Kat Klub.' *Really.* That was tacky even for a strip joint.

She shook her head and got ready to ride. Just as the door opened. Damn. The man had an ounce of sense after all. Only an ounce it seemed because the man was just ambling over, like he had all the time in the world. Rogue was tempted to ride off without him right now but she waited, watching instead.

She turned off the bike and stared at him, crossing her arms. "Going somewhere, Logan?"

"Back inside, once you get off the bike," he grumbled, glancing around. "Where's yours?"

"Hank dropped me off. I ain't getting off the bike. You're either getting on or going back inside without it."

Logan straightened, just a little, and leaned back. It almost came across as casual, if you didn't know him. But Rogue, well, she knew him well, and it was anything but casual. "It's my bike, kid."

"It's Scott's bike. You just ain't likely to give it back," she corrected.

"Scooter isn't using it. I am. Get off, kid."

She shook her head and started it up again. "Night, Logan. I got better things to do."

That finally seemed to penetrate that thick, Adamantium-incased skull of his 'cause he hurried on over to the bike and scooted up behind her, all relaxed-like. Except that once on the bike he was right up against her back and she could feel exactly how unrelaxed he was.

Tease.

Damn.

She licked her lips. "Glad you decided to join us. This is your kinda mission, 'bub.'" Picking her feet up off the ground, Rogue let the bike go as they took off.

She just hoped Hank, the professor or Scott didn't see her riding without a helmet. Wasn't like Logan even had one. And riding just wasn't the same with a helmet, in her opinion. She'd been riding without one since she was a little girl and she ain't got hurt, had she? With Logan here it was even less likely; boy had reflexes enough for the both of them.

"And what kind of mission is that?"

"Mutant activity detected near Alaska. The professor can't get a better lock on it than that, except it's big and it's persistent." She grinned. "Sounds like a fight waiting to happen to me; I always wanted to go to Alaska."

He grunted. "Shouldn't be drinking and riding, kid."

Rogue laughed. "You shouldn't be driving without your damn seatbelt either, so shut up."

And he did, for awhile. It wasn't exactly a short ride either, but if there was one thing Logan did well besides killing people it was being quiet. She could respect that in a man.

Rogue pushed the bike a little harder, not quite daring enough to try the NOS system. She was good, but she wasn't gonna be stupid about it. Least not without a helmet on. Last thing she needed was Logan in a coma for a few days and him in her head again. She'd spent enough time craving cigars for one life. She didn't know how the boy could stand them, even with his healing factor compensating for his lungs.

"Gonna take half the night to get back like this, kid," she heard Logan mutter from behind her.

"I'm already breaking the speed limit, sugar," she shouted back, but pushed a little harder.

She didn't doubt that Logan had no idea what the speed limit here was. If he'd ever got a ticket she'd be surprised -- one look at him and most the cops wouldn't want to mess with that. Though she wondered what would happen if he did; who were they gonna fill it out for? He didn't exactly have a last name. And even if he did, they couldn't do any damage to him. Shit, he'd been shot in the head and got back up five minutes later.

Rogue appreciated that in a man too.

What she didn't appreciate was him being pushy, especially about driving. So, when he started bothering her about it she ignored him at first, only answering when he got that impatient little growl to his voice. If there was one thing that man couldn't stand it was to be ignored.

"I can drive just fine!" she called back to him.

He growled again, right in her ear, and shut up. Good. That was the way a man was supposed to be: seen and not heard. Felt didn't hurt, she had to admit. It was kinda nice in that through three layers of clothing way. He had great hands. And the chest. And those jeans.

The jeans were better from the backend. Logan had a great ass. Especially when he was using it to save hers. Rogue had to get around to repaying that favor soon.

She didn't like owing no one, except the Professor. Owing Xavier wasn't that bad because she knew he wasn't gonna collect in a way that'd make her skin crawl or something. Wasn't something she trusted most people not to do, not most days, so she wasn't willing to owe anyone she didn't have to.

Xavier just wanted to collect by making her do something Rogue probably would anyway. There were a lotta kids out there, like her, lost and alone and probably getting abused. And Magneto. Magneto was still out there, waiting. There was no telling if he'd fix his machine and try again. Or maybe go really off his rocker and start to believe that killing all humans wasn't such a big loss.

He hadn't been that far gone yet.

Point was, she stuck around with the X-Men because she wanted to, it was what she wanted to do with her life, not 'cause she owed Charles Xavier.

So she knew why she was doing it, and it wasn't gratitude, but she didn't know why Logan stuck around and played along. She'd understood, a little, when she'd watched him hit on Jean all the time. But he was still around... Sort of. In the sense that he was around town physically, at least. Somedays he was even here mentally, more or less. Usually when he was teaching.

Who would have thought that big ol' growly Wolverine would make a damn fine teacher? It'd been Storm's idea; and everyone had thought she was nuts when she suggested it. But she took Logan to a room full of the younger kids, gave him some paint and the kids loved him. Maybe it was because they thought that Logan never needed scissors was funny.

"So, you wanna tell me what that was about, sugar?" she asked, quiet enough that he had to be paying attention to hear her. If he weren't then it wasn't no sweat, but if he was then maybe she'd get some answers. 'Bout time someone did.

"What, kid?"

"The stripper. Bear a bit of resemblence to someone we used to know you think?"

"Too tall and her hips were wider. Tits were bigger too."

If they were on the ground Rogue would have smacked him upside the head and left it at that, but she couldn't exactly do that riding a motorcycle, now could she? So she settled for rolling her eyes and huffing a little breath, as she said, "Ya know, some people would call that unhealthy."

"Sex is as healthy as it gets," Logan drawled in her ear, over the wind.

"Wouldn't know, sugar. I'm a strictly hands off gal." Something he knew well enough.

"You and Iceman didn't figure that out?" He sounded amused.

Asshole. That was the Wolverine for you though. Rogue shook her head and grinned a little when she heard him making noises at her hair. Finally he managed to spit it out of his mouth and thankfully just shut up the rest of the way. Once he was quiet it was a nice ride and she relaxed into it, enjoying herself. There wasn't anything she enjoyed quite as much as the open road and four hundred pounds of metal between her legs, except flying the jet.

That was better. Faster. Harder.

And here she was lecturing Logan about what was healthy.

She felt him leaning into the curve with her easily and sighed to herself. It was a pity he was sticking his head in the ground because Rogue really could use a partner on the team who moved with her seamlessly like that.

Not that Piotr wasn't wonderful and just about the sweetest person ever, but it was a pairing made more out of need than fitting. Him being invulnerable to bullets had sure as hell saved her ass more than once and don't think she wasn't grateful for that. But she wanted to be partnered with someone she could work with completely, not just hide behind. She was getting *really* good at fighting.

Of course, that really did require Logan taking his head outta his ass and that was just about as likely to happen as... Well, Logan taking his head outta his ass. Besides, that was no guarantee he'd work with her any better than Piotr did. Look how much he'd grumbled at just letting her drive. She just resigned herself to putting up with it until she could take 'em on alone.

That was why she'd picked Rogue in the first place.

It'd help if she had an active ability. Even Jean had got something to go along with the telepathy.

She'd really got the short end of the stick as far as 'gifts' were concerned, hadn't she? It wouldn't have been such a crappy gift if she could turn it on and off. Or at least just suck the powers and not the life or memories out of people.

There were some real sick bastards out there and the last place Rogue wanted any of them was in her head.

"Watch the road," Logan growled at her suddenly and Rogue jumped, scanning. There was nothing in front of her; just him being his jumpy self she had to figure. And she'd been watchin', thank you very much, and she didn't need no help from him.

Watching right into the fucking rabbit that jumped out on the road. She swerved easily. "I know how to ride, Logan."

He didn't say anything, just relaxing against her. Or against the bike and she still got the bulk of it.

"You're heavy, you know that?"

"Metal skeleton, darlin'." But he eased off her some, shifting his weight back.

Funny thing was she didn't really mind. It wasn't like it was scrunchy her or anything uncomfortable. She sighed. "Professor's sending most of us this time, that's why you're getting called in." They usually wouldn't bother Logan when he went off on these haunts of his, wanting his space. The same curtesy was extended to her so she appreciated what being interrupted when you were off being by yourself could feel like.

"What's Chuck want me for? Babysitting?"

She laughed. "Someone's gotta. We were gonna draw straws as to who's staying. Well, they were gonna at least." Rogue never got called up for that. For one, she was doing the flying. For the other, if the school was attacked, like it had been all those years ago, she wasn't gonna be able to protect it very well.

Piotr always liked to volunteer to stay with the kids though. He had a thing for 'em, thanks to his younger sister.

"I ain't babysitting, kid," Logan's voice rumbled in her ear. "Even Chuck knows that."

"Piotr'll probably wanna stay. Paranormal occurances aren't his thing." They weren't hers either, but this one had even the professor a little spooked and Rogue was honest enough to know that she had more curiosity than sense most days. She grinned. "I'm gonna need someone watching my back."

"They let you go out with 'em, kid?"

She snorted. Asshole. "I go with 'em more than you do nowadays," she replied.

"You get hurt much?" His voice was even and Rogue couldn't really tell if he meant it like he expected her to or not.

"Sometimes. Got my very own Colossus-sized shield though. Usually keeps me outta trouble." The normal sort of trouble, at least. There'd been some close calls, once or twice, usually during one of Logan's disappearances. He always came back home though, eventually. That wasn't normal trouble.

It was funny. She had the sort of gift that was a curse but Magneto had hardly been the last person who'd wanted to use it. They weren't even all mutants either.

After all, imagine being able to bottle it up and infect other mutants with it, draw their powers away along with their life force.

Labs. Damn, she hated labs.

"You're holding something back, kid," he grumbled, tightening his fingers into her waist. "What ain't you telling me?"

"You smell that?" she asked, curious more than anything. She knew he could smell lies, but could he smell just when people weren't telling something too?

"Your breathing picked up."

Now that just figured, didn't it?

Rogue shook her head. It was damn hard to hold a conversation going this fast on a motorcycle but at least Logan's hearing could pick her up if she spoke normal. "Just thinkin' about something that almost happened that time you were gone for a month last year."

His fingers stopped digging into and she felt him nod against her back. But he didn't ask. It wasn't information she was going to offer either so they lapsed into silence, not that she minded. Silence was nice and not something she got a lot of at the school, not with Jubes and Bobby when he was visiting and the kids. Seemed like the only ones who understood the value of it were Logan and Piotr and she mostly just thought Piotr was quiet to humor her.

Kurt knew quiet too. Rogue thought it had something to do with the blue and the tail. He was used to being treated like a monster. And Hank, Hank, well, he never shut up. He gave Jubilee a run for her money when it came to talking.

Scott had been quieter since Jean too. And Storm was just... elegant. She was a classy gal and no matter how much she talked, she'd never seem like she was a chatterbug. But it wasn't real quiet, not like Logan was or herself.

Shit, after this whole trip Rogue was gonna have to get out somewhere and just go for awhile. She was startin' to get that feeling again and that was never good.

Maybe she'd head south. Southwest. She wanted to avoid Mississipi altogether and Rogue had never been to Mexico before. "Ever been to Mexico, Logan?"

"Not that I remember. Too hot for my tastes."

"Not enough cage fights to catch your fancy?" She reached up and pushed some of her whipping hair back, outta her face, and tucked it behind her ear.

"That too."

It made her wonder if he still fought in cages when he wandered away from the school, just because she knew he enjoyed the fights. He enjoyed fighting and he enjoyed killing and even beating up on the pansy-asses -- in comparison to him -- in the cage fights in the bars up north. It was funny what bits she remembered from those few days where she'd had more Logan in her head than herself.

And Rogue wasn't ever gonna forget the feeling of Jean's ass in her hand.

They were getting closer to the school thankfully, but not close enough that she felt comfortable relaxing. Things were too awkward with Logan now, even more than they had been after Jean's death. It was like he didn't know what to do with her now that she wasn't no fifteen year old girl in need of his protection.

The roads were clear so she punched it, warning Logan, "Hold on tight." And frankly, Rogue was getting a little tired of being the one everyone had to save. She wanted to kick ass and take names all on her lonesome.

Though she'd settle for 'without the others worrying about whether she was getting hurt.' Was there something about her that just screamed victim or something? Maybe it was the accent. It wasn't the accent for Logan or the scared look and trembling or the big eyes, all of which she'd learned to use pretty liberally on the road. But most people weren't Logan, she had to admit, and she doubted it was respect for her lack of fear and the like they got most people's soft spots a goin'.

She was gonna have to reeducate him about her being harmless one of these days though, 'cause she wasn't harmless anymore. Surely she couldn't kill like he could but neither could anyone else, 'cept maybe Sabertooth, so it was hardly a way to go about a comparison. And Rogue knew if she took a swipe of Sabertooth's power, she'd be doing just as well.

The whole point was to save lives, not take them. Hell, if she thought the whole human race deserved to go, she wouldn't have stayed with Xavier. There had to be other people out there who thought like Magneto who...Well, weren't gonna kidnap her and kill her on their quest for pre-emptive vengeance.

Not that she wasn't tempted somedays but it passed and she got her head screwed back on right and everything was fine.

She eased the bike down, shifting the gears as they came up on the Mansion's drive. The gargage didn't have anyone in it when they arrived and she wondered if they'd ended up with de facto babysitting by taking so long. Wouldn't that just be perfect? The kids would love it. They loved their 'Wolfy.'

Rogue grinned as she killed the engine and waited for Logan to get off so that she could too without squishing herself.

"What'd you grinning at, kid?"

"The kids are gonna be glad you're back. They missed you, Mr. Wolfy," she teased.

He growled at her, shoulders straightening a way that might've been threatening if she thought he was gonna do anything about it. He slid off the bike easily and she followed, stretching out and rubbing her rear end a little. It'd been a while she'd she'd rode.

"You got a real soft spot for kids."

He looked at her suspiciously. "They're like little animals."

Rogue laughed at the sudden image. It wasn't a thought she was unfamilar with. Little kids were kinda like animals -- loud, far too energetic for anyone reasonable to keep up with, and didn't think to clean up after themselves ever. It made sense Logan would like animals.

"Come on, kid. Scooter and Chuck are waiting on us." He frowned a little.

She shook herself and nodded, following him into the house.

Only to be nearly run into by Gerry. Speaking of little animals, he really was one. Feral mutations. She had to admit she was kinda glad she didn't have claws.

"Slow down, Gerry." She smiled at him and he grinned at her back, sniffing Logan briefly before taking off again.

"Cute kid, he's new."

"Yeah. Last week. He's adjusting pretty well though, I gotta say. Better than some do."

"You did fine." He shrugged briefly, the jacket moving with his shoulders. "There'd better be beer after this," Logan muttered, moving past her and heading toward the Professor's office.

She laughed. "Well, I was good at getting along at new places long before I came here, Logan," she told him.

"There's getting along and there's thriving, kid. Two different things."

"I didn't all right for myself." Though she prefered the school any day to being on the street, cold and most time hungry like she'd been for a year.

"By sneaking into the trucks of strange men. That hungry for a sex life, kid?"

It wasn't -- Rogue could feel her face heating up, the remnants of her mother's teaching on manners and what good girls didn't talk about, and she glared at him. "It wasn't like that and you know it, Logan."

He laughed. "No, you were just sticking with what you knew. I was a mutant. You got lucky, that's all."

"That and you had a truck headin' outta that excuse for a town. I was tryin' to get to Alaska."

Logan gave her a look and shook his head. "You got lucky. Coulda been Magnet-head's truck and not mine."

"I could handle myself." But she couldn't say that she hadn't thought about it. How things mighta gone if Logan wasn't such a good guy when he wanted to be.

He gave her a look, up and down. Again. That was getting real old for Rogue. "Sure, kid." He pulled a cigar out of his pocket and lit it. "Took care of yourself right onto the top of the Statue of Liberty and flying outta the back of the damn plane."

"That mighta happened to anyone. Didn't see you doing so well against Magneto yourself."

"Didn't happen to anyone, Marie. Happened to you." He blew smoke into her face.

She wrinkled her nose at that and was about to reply when she saw the door down the corridor opening. There was Piotr, peeking his head through and smiling when he saw her. Rogue smiled back. "Hey, sugar, what's going on?"

"I am watching over the children, Rogue," he said, his accent giving the words more weight. "The professor is expecting you and Wolverine." He nodded easily at Logan.

Rogue was surprised that they'd waited around for her and Logan but she nodded, heading the way of the professor's office. "Sure, sugar. You comin', Logan?"

He grunted and followed her. "Told ya they were waiting."  



End file.
